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2017 Updates |
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The Clemmons Family Farm in Vermont is in a phase of gradual transition from a private family-owned farm to a non-profit organization. We are pursuing several avenues to raise funds that will enable us to receive the public.
Please email us directly for inquiries at clemmonsfamilyfar[email protected]
Please like us on Facebook and keep an eye out for other announcements on this page!
Please like us on Facebook and keep an eye out for other announcements on this page!
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The BIG News of 2017 is that the Clemmons Family Farm and our partners WON the ArtPlace America National Creative Placemaking Grant!!! For more information about the grant, check out these articles in
Seven Days and The Citizen. For an overview of the 2017 Program Highlights, please watch our interactive online report here. |
October 2017: "Fall-ing for Soul Food" and "Cooking, Culture and Conversation" events.
Chef Omar Tate, from Brooklyn New York, was our culinary artist-in-residence in October. Learn more about his culinary heritage journey, and his beautiful work on the Clemmons Family Farm, by clicking on the lovely storytelling blog here (lots of gorgeous photos!) here.
Chef Omar Tate, from Brooklyn New York, was our culinary artist-in-residence in October. Learn more about his culinary heritage journey, and his beautiful work on the Clemmons Family Farm, by clicking on the lovely storytelling blog here (lots of gorgeous photos!) here.
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July 2017: ArtPlace America site visit at the Clemmons Family Farm!
ArtPlace America Director of Programs Javier Torres visited the Farm on July 11 during their national tour of 70 sites selected for the finalist round of the 2017 National Creative Placemaking Fund. Present at the site visit were our partners on the proposed "A Sense of Place" arts and culture project: Alganesh Michael, Building Heritage, Champlain College, INSPIRIT a dance company, and Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. Right: Christal Brown of INSPIRIT a dance company explains how the grant would help redesign the agricultural space of the Big Barn to include creative space for arts and culture. |
Above: Brian Murphy shows a video to the ArtPlace America judges during the July site visit. The video explains how a grant from ArtPlace America would support Champlain College students and faculty to develop African diaspora literature and spoken word content with community members. The content would be displayed along interpretive walking trails on the Farm.
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June 2017: Teff Trials, Bean planting, Agricultural practices to promote Grassland Birds , a "Splendiferous" Book Reading, and Launching the "A Place for All People" exhibits at the Barn House.
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Agriculture in June: June was hopping with activities! As soon as the rains let up, we began planting teff seeds and launched our trials of this Ethiopian indigenous grain in plots in several locations on our organic meadows. The teff trials are under the supervision of Heather Darby of the UVM Extension Department. The Farm also introduced pinto beans and black beans as two new organic crops, and did an early cut of our organic hay crop as one of the best practices recommended by the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. Cutting early in June and late in August allows for grassland birds to safely nest and raise their fledglings.
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Above: Teff trials launched in small hand-cultivated plots on the Farm's organic meadows in June 2017.
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Humanities in June: Also in June, the Farm was thrilled to present author Donna Sherard as the first guest speaker in our speakers series, To Sing of Common Things: Exploring Love, Family, Identity, Politics and Daily Life in African and African American Literature, Music and Performance”, funded by the Vermont Humanities Council. Donna read from her new children's book, The Splendiferous Adventures of Ryan Odongo. Finally, on June 28th, the Farm held a special reception for invited guests to celebrate the opening of six exhibits, which will be open by appointment for public viewing.
Below: Photos from the Splendiferous Adventures of Ryan Odongo book reading at the Barn House, funded by the Vermont Humanities Council.
Below: Photos from the Splendiferous Adventures of Ryan Odongo book reading at the Barn House, funded by the Vermont Humanities Council.
Art in June: Below: The A Place for All People Exhibits will be open to the public for viewings by scheduled appointments June - October 2017 at the Barn House:
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1. The Barn House: Actually comprised of two separate historic buildings, an 18th century granary and cow barn, the Barn House is a masterpiece in artisan carpentry work. In the 1990s, Jack Clemmons worked with one other carpenter to restore the magnificent hand-hewn beams and preserve the original frames of the two buildings. The Barn House is itself a work of art and an important legacy for African American history in Vermont.
2. A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is a poster exhibit organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). Based on the inaugural exhibitions of the Museum, the 20 posters highlight key artifacts that tell the rich and diverse story of the African American experience. The posters are curated with interpretive paragraphs and QR codes that link viewers, with just a swipe of their smart phones, to audios and videos with additional selections of African American history as well as Clemmons family storytelling. |
3. A Sense of Place is a set of interpretive installations located throughout the historic Barn House. The installations include Clemmons family photographs, selected farm tools, and memorabilia from Jack and Lydia Clemmons’ travels and work on the African continent in the 1980s and 1990’s.
4. Dream Workers is a set of interpretive illustrations of African American civil rights era leaders by artist and University of Vermont Associate Professor of Art Mildred Beltre.
5. Gaia is a collection of three creative works by Charlotte environmental artist Nancy Winship Milliken. The work uses some of the agricultural soils and organic hay of the Clemmons Family Farm.
6. POC: Power of Color is an inspiring exhibit of portrait photographs and autobiographic statements that showcase the strength, eloquence and beauty of multicultural high school students and other young adults in Hardwick, Vermont. The POC project is designed and led by 15 year-old photographer-activist Audrey Grant and 17-year old artist-activist Zymora Davinchi.
4. Dream Workers is a set of interpretive illustrations of African American civil rights era leaders by artist and University of Vermont Associate Professor of Art Mildred Beltre.
5. Gaia is a collection of three creative works by Charlotte environmental artist Nancy Winship Milliken. The work uses some of the agricultural soils and organic hay of the Clemmons Family Farm.
6. POC: Power of Color is an inspiring exhibit of portrait photographs and autobiographic statements that showcase the strength, eloquence and beauty of multicultural high school students and other young adults in Hardwick, Vermont. The POC project is designed and led by 15 year-old photographer-activist Audrey Grant and 17-year old artist-activist Zymora Davinchi.
May 2017: Exciting News on Two Grants! The Farm was thrilled to receive news that we are awarded a grant from the Vermont Humanities Council to support a speakers series on the Farm during the summer and Fall of 2017. The series will focus on presenting humanities works from the African diaspora. We also received news that the Farm and its partners made it into the finalist round of ArtPlace America's 2017 National Creative Placemaking Fund: we are in the top 70 of nearly 1000 applicants!
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April 2017: Exploring New Partnerships for Heritage, Arts and Culture Programs, and the Clemmons Family Farm is in the new edition of the African American Heritage Trail brochure.
Christal Brown of Middlebury, and her New York-based INSPIRIT dance company, toured the Farm and explored its indoor and outdoor venues for future dance performances and classes. We met with Burlington resident Alganesh Michael to plan for her traditional Ethiopian/Eritrean coffee ceremonies to be held weekends at the Farm beginning this summer. |
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Ali Dieng, a Burlington area community leader, also toured the Farm and we discussed the potential for multicultural camps and learning activities for youth. Also in April, the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing published the new edition of the Vermont African American Heritage Trail brochure, which adds The Clemmons Family Farm to the Trail's 22 landmark sites!
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March 2017: New Oral History Collaboration with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Vermont!
The Clemmons Family Farm is thrilled to announce our partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Vermont (UVM) to compile the oral histories of Dr. Jack Clemmons, a pediatric pathologist, and Mrs. Lydia Clemmons, a registered nurse and nurse anesthetist. University of Vermont graduate students Perri Meldon and Franco Paz, both history scholars, will be trained in oral history interview methods byTroy Reeves, Head of the Oral History Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Franco and Perri will conduct the oral history interviews with Dr. and Mrs. Clemmons on the Clemmons Family Farm this Spring. Once finalized, the two oral histories will be available to the public online! |
Above: Perri Meldon, Lydia Clemmons (Senior), Jackson Clemmons, and Franco Paz.
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February 2017: Three New Storytelling Videos!
Blizzards and winter weather create the perfect opportunity to sit down next to the wood burning stove and record some storytelling. We produced and shared three new storytelling videos with Lydia Senior this month. All of the videos are about Lydia's childhood in Arkansas and Louisiana during the 1920's.
Blizzards and winter weather create the perfect opportunity to sit down next to the wood burning stove and record some storytelling. We produced and shared three new storytelling videos with Lydia Senior this month. All of the videos are about Lydia's childhood in Arkansas and Louisiana during the 1920's.
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In The Tent, Lydia Senior tells a story about her parents, fun-loving Howard and Lucille, a teen aged married couple who left their crops in the field and ran off to an oil boom town in Arkansas in 1923. With no money and no housing, they shared a small tent with another young couple. In between looking for work in town, life in the tent was full of teasing, jokes and laughter.
Check out our two other February videos The Welder and the Seamstress and A Prayer, a Coachwhip and a Wildcat. |
January 2017: Maasai Cultural "Pop Up" Events at the Barn House!
Daniel Iree, one of the traditional elders of the Maasai tribe in Kenya, visited the Clemmons Family Farm with friends Agnes and Anna. The trio gave presentations about their culture and demonstrated some of their music and dance traditions during two free events held in the historic Barn House. Community members from Charlotte, Shelburne, Ferrisburgh, Hinesburg, Burlington and Williston engaged in quality cross-cultural socializing and together gave a total of $1342 in purchases of Maasai jewelry and crafts and donations. All of the funds will be used to purchase chlorine tablets to treat the drinking water of 45 families in the Maasai village of Intashat in Kenya.
Daniel Iree, one of the traditional elders of the Maasai tribe in Kenya, visited the Clemmons Family Farm with friends Agnes and Anna. The trio gave presentations about their culture and demonstrated some of their music and dance traditions during two free events held in the historic Barn House. Community members from Charlotte, Shelburne, Ferrisburgh, Hinesburg, Burlington and Williston engaged in quality cross-cultural socializing and together gave a total of $1342 in purchases of Maasai jewelry and crafts and donations. All of the funds will be used to purchase chlorine tablets to treat the drinking water of 45 families in the Maasai village of Intashat in Kenya.
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